Give strength-training a try with advice from a UC expert

By Cultivating Health, UC Davis Health

Often, when people think of beginning an exercise plan, they focus on workouts like running, walking or cycling. But resistance training is also critical for overall health, strength and longevity. And, you don’t need a gym membership or fancy equipment to get started.

If it’s been a while since you tried to work out, that’s OK! Keith Baar, Ph.D., UC Davis Health professor of molecular exercise physiology, has compiled helpful tips and tools to build your strength and muscle mass.

In the video below, he demonstrates three simple exercises to get you started at the gym and allow you to progress with minimal pain and time. He also answers questions about how to start a resistance-training routine — and why it matters.

Watch a demo from Dr. Baard

Q&A: How to get started with resistance training

What’s the best exercise for a healthy life?

The number one predictor of longevity in humans is muscle mass and strength. If you’re in the strongest third of the population in midlife, you’re two and a half times more likely to make it to your 100th birthday.

When doctors tell patients they should exercise, people generally interpret that as running, walking or other rhythmic activities. Those endurance exercises are good for health and increase the volume of your heart, but they don’t increase strength much or lead to bigger, stronger muscles. To build muscle mass and strength, we need to move against a heavier load. This is known as resistance exercise.

Do I need to go to a gym or have special equipment for resistance exercise?

No, you can do resistance training with whatever tools you have available. A gym usually has free weights, weight machines and dumbbells, but at home, you can replace those with cloth tote bags that you fill with random items. Using bags, cans and water as your weights can save you money and works just as well.

How much do I need to lift or exercise to build my muscles?

Whatever weights you have are enough to give you a stimulus and make your muscles bigger and stronger — smaller weights just require more repetitions. Whether you lift a tiny little weight or a big heavy one, if you go until you can’t quite lift it anymore, that’s all you need.

The key is to record how much you lifted and how many repetitions you completed. Then, the next time you exercise, aim for more repetitions or a slightly heavier weight to boost your endurance.

No matter what weight you begin with, as you hit your goals, you will quickly increase your stamina. Within two or three weeks, you will be lifting a weight that challenges you. That will encourage you to keep getting stronger.

What’s a good strength-training exercise routine to follow?

You can create your own routine, but to involve all of your muscles, try to include a big pressing movement with your legs and upper body, followed by a big pulling movement with your upper body.

I usually advise people to start out by working their leg muscles with leg presses or squats, then to do shoulder or chest presses to strengthen the upper body. Then you can finish with a pulling exercise, like a chin-up or a pulldown.

Once you’re good at this routine, you can add more exercises.

How can I strengthen my leg muscles?

Once you’ve mastered the leg press or squat, you can add isolation exercises like leg extensions and leg curls.

If you’re using an isolation machine for leg exercises at the gym, go up on one count and down on two counts. Going up on a leg extension will shorten the quadricep muscle, whereas going down will lengthen it under load. We spend a little bit more time on the eccentric phase —the lengthening phase of the muscle — to give more of a stimulus for that muscle to get bigger and stronger.

Is ‘no pain, no gain’ valid for building muscles and exercise?

You don’t need to be in pain to make gains. We make the most gains in muscle mass and strength after we’re used to exercising and don’t feel pain the next day or the day after.

How many times a week should I exercise?

It depends on how quickly you recover and how hard you train. The harder you go on an exercise, the longer it will take you to recover.

If you start with twice a week and you’re seeing progress, then try three times a week and see how your body responds. If your body continues getting stronger, that is great. If your body starts performing worse, you might be overtraining. In that case, go back to two times a week.

Whether you’re doing endurance or resistance exercises, what matters is starting and then staying consistent.

Ready for another goal? Check out an eight-week exercise plan for heart health.